2008 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE
TAKUMA SATO Car 18 (SA08A-06)
FP1 Position 19 No: of laps: 7 Fastest Lap Time 1:31.048
FP2 Position 21 No: of laps: 16 Fastest Lap Time 1:30.663
ANTHONY DAVIDSON Car 19 (SA08A-05)
FP1 Position 20 No: of laps: 7 Fastest Lap Time 1:31.771
FP2 Position 22 No: of laps: 8 Fastest Lap Time 1:31.527
Weather Hot with gusty winds (9.5 – 19.3% day relative
humidity)
Air Temperature 31.3 – 37.8°C (day min-max)
Track Temperature 34.0 – 46.0°C (day min-max)
SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM commenced its 2008 season challenge today
with the inaugural outing of the SA08A at the Albert Park
Circuit in Melbourne.
The first day of running got off to a hot and windy start
with the team opting for installation laps, grid procedure
simulation and systems checks for both Takuma and Anthony
during the morning’s Free Practice session. Anthony’s
running was cut short in the afternoon; however Takuma was
able to complete his planned test programme for the day.
Takuma Sato
“I am pleased to have started our first day of the
2008 season. Of course we had some issues as our winter preparations
were not completed and we had to evaluate many things on our
very first day. But it was good to see the cars running and
that the team is up to speed. There is a lot of work to do,
naturally, but overall today was good.”
Anthony Davidson
“It was a difficult Friday. We had planned a limited
programme anyway, but then we had to cut short our run in
the afternoon. I hope that we can get to grips with the car
more tomorrow and move on from there.”
Graham Taylor, Sporting Director
“We are very pleased to be in Melbourne, but Melbourne
does not seem to be too pleased to see us! It was a very difficult
day; we tried to adopt a staged approach to the start of the
year, attempting to tick the boxes that other teams have been
able too during winter testing. Therefore in FP1, Anthony’s
car undertook a full grid procedure simulation whilst Takuma’s
car undertook a green flag simulation. We are experiencing
some new car issues, as you would expect - a little overheating
here and there, but otherwise the morning went to plan. Unfortunately
for Anthony his running was curtailed this afternoon because
we exceeded a design parameter and we once again encountered
some issues with cooling, so we need to address these areas
this evening to allow us to complete a few more miles tomorrow.”
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